Apparatus for loading and transporting bulk material



Jan. 1, 1929. LQWEZZ R. T. MQKEEN 4 APPARATUS FOR LOADING AND TRANSPORTING BULK MATERIAL Filed May 29, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. '1, 1929.

R. T. M KEEN APPARATUS FOR LOADING AND TRANSPORTING BULK MATERIAL Filed ga 29, 1926- 2 Shoots-Sheet 2 orneys Patented Jan. 1, 1929.

' oar s RICHARD 'J.. MGKEEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Application filed May 29,

My invention relates to apparatus for loading and transporting bulk material and is concerned more particularly with providmg novel and improved apparatus for moving coal from a coal mine, that is to say for collecting the coal from the floor of the mine where it has been deposited, for eXample, by under cutting and blasting, and transporting it from the mine.

The invention contemplates making the body of the coal car, or a part of said body, separable from the truck portion of the car and using the separable body as a scraper, which is drawn over the floor of the mine to collect a load of the coal and is then replaced, with its load, upon the car truck and removed from the mine in the usual manner. The in vention consists in the novel and improved devices, constructions and apparatuses for carrying out the objects as above set forth.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings. It is realized, however, that the invention is susceptible of various different embodiments. Hence it is my intention to cover all modifications and variations in structural features within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional plan illustrating, somewhat diagrammatically, a mine room furnished with apparatus in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe combined mine car and'scraper, and the cradle for demounting the scraper from and returning it to the truck, the scraper being shown as in movement between the truck and cradle.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectionalview of the cradle.

Fig. 4 is afragmentary end view of thecar.

- Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary end and side views, respectively, of the scraper.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional'view of the car, showingboth ends thereof.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in perspective of one end of the scraper and certain parts of the truck structure, and l f Fig. 9 isa plan view,-with part of the flooring broken out, of the truck.

Referring first to Fig. 1f 10-designatesthe room of a coal mine in which are laid parallel tracks 11 and 12 connected by across-over tr'aclr13. The tracks 11 and 12 lead to tracks 1 1, 15 in the mine corridor 16. The working face of the mine is indicated at 17.

Onthe track 15 are coal-cars 18 preferably 1926 Serial No. 112,495.

constructed as shown in the other figures of the drawings. Each car consists of a truck anda scraper, the scraper being demountable from the trucln'but when in place on the truck forming, with certain parts of the truck itself, a complete car body or container for the material to be'transported from the mine. The truck consists of suitable frame members 19, wheels 20, a floor 21, an end wall 22, at one end only of the truck, and angle bars 23 along opposite longitudinal edges of the flooring, theupstanding flanges of which form guides for the scraper.

The scraper is constructed, preferably, of a pair of sidemembers 24 secured together in such manner as to leave the ends and bottom of the scraper open. Preferably the connecting meansfor the side walls consist of athreesided brace 25 at each end of the scraper, reinforced by the angularly disposed braces 26. The side members of the scraper at the end which comes against the fixed end wall 22 on the truck are provided with" pointed latch members 27 adapted to pass through slots 28 in theend wall 22 and apertured at 29' for the latch pins 30. At the other end of thescraper the side members are formed with outstanding lugs 31 adapted to enter slots'32 in the upstanding flanges of angle bars 23. ,By

the means described, for which any other suitable locking devices might be substituted, the

scraper is engaged with the truck in such.

manner that longitudinal displacement or the scraper is prevented and also separation of the scraper from the truclt in case the car is inverted when unloaded.

At theother en'dof the scraper the side members are provided with guide cleats 33, 33 providing with the adjacent brace 25 grooves 34 for the edges of a doorj35. The door is furnished near its lower edge with a pair of latch bars 36 arranged in keepers 37,

ends of the latch bars extending into openings 39 in the side members 24', when the door is in its closing position and adapted to enter similar openings 10 near the upper edges of the side members when the door is raised above grooves 34.

At the end of track 11 is a tilting cradle 41 consisting of a platform 42 provided with '38 and outp'ressed by a coiled spring'39, the

upon a turn table 47. Cables 48, 49 are attached to opposite ends of the scraper and a winding mechanism is provided comprising a pair of drums 50, 51 arranged so that when one cable is wound up the other is paid out.

The cables, by which term I intend to include v around sheaves 54, 52 from the winding drum 50, is provided with hooks 48 engaging holes 48*"in the front end of the scraper 24; and cable 49 from drum 51, is similarly at tachecl to the rear end of the scraper, through holes 49 that is the end near the fixed end wall 22. The scraper is pulled from the truck upon the cradle 41 which thereupon tilts to allow the scraper to slide down upon the mine floor. The cradle ma be rotated because sup ported on the turn-ta le. 47 The door or gate 35 is raised until the latch bars 36 enter the openings 40 whereupon the door may be turned over between the side members of the scraper. The coal will lie on the floor near the working face 17 of the mine, which, it will be understood, has been undercut and the coal blasted, or otherwise removed therefrom, and the movement of the scraper in the direction of sheave 52 will cut into the pile of coal on the floor in an oblique direction, the coal passing between the side members of the scraper under the gate 85, which can rise to let the coal pass. Cable 48' is then taken from sheave 52 and cable 49 put over sheave 52 and the scra er drawn, still with the gate. end forwar toward sheave 54. The gate 35 is then closed, the movements of the winding drums are reversed, and the scraper with its other end forward, that is, the end without the door, is drawn back, as it came, through the coal and then to the cradle, the cables being shifted back to their original positions for drawing the scraper to and upon the cradle and truck.- As the scraper is drawn toward sheave 53 the coal is piled up against the door 35 filling the-space between the side members. The car with its parts thus reassembled and carrying a load of coal, is then shifted from track 11 by the cross-over 13 to track 12 and another car is moved up on track 11 to the cradle.

It will be understood that the manipulation of the scraper may be varied as conditions re quire. In the matter of construction the design of the scraper, of the truck and of the cradle, may be considerably varied without departure from the principles of my invention. For example in place of a pivotal gate the scraper may have a solid end wall, in which case the scraper would have to be moved always so as to present its open end to the coal.

By the term truck I mean any suitable wheeled structure for supporting the scraper; and by scraper, used without qualification,

' I mean any structure which may be dragged through a pile of material to collect or segregate a part of the material and which when mounted on the truck will form by itself or in combination with parts of the truck structure, a body or container for material. The

term cable as used in the claims is intended to cover any suitable flexible connection such as a rope or chain.

I claim: 7

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a truck, a scraper forming a part of the truck body and demountably supported on the truck, means for demounting the scraper from and returning it to the truck and means for moving the scraper 7 through material to collect a load.

2. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a truck, a scraper comprising spaced side members connected together to leave the ends of the scraper open, demountably supported on the truck and forming the side walls of the truck body, means for demounting the scraper from and returning it to the truck and means for moving the scraper through material to collect a load. 7

3. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a truck, a. scraper comprising spaced side members connected together to leave the ends and bottom of the scraper open, demountably supported on the truck and which with'the truck form a container for material, means for demounting the scraper from and returning it to the truck and means for moving the scraper through material to collect a load. I

4. In apparatus of'the character described, the combination of a truck, a scraper comprising spaced. side members connected together to leave the ends of the scraper open, demountably supported on the truck and forming a part of the truck body, means for demounting the scraper from and returning it to the truck and means for moving the scraper through material to collect a load and a door for one end of the scraper. l

5. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a truck, a scraper demountably supported on the truck, means for demounting the scraper from and returning it to the truck and means comprising cables attached to opposite ends of the scraper and winding drums operative to wind up one of said cables and pay out the other for moving the scraper through material to collect a load, and sheaves for the cables arranged so that the scraper may be drawn first in one direction and then in the opposite direction through the material to be collected.

6. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a truck having a floor and a rigid end wall, a scraper comprising spaced side members connected so as to leave the ends and bottom of the scraper open and forming the side Walls of the truck body, a door for the end of the scraper opposite to the end wall of the truck, and means for detachably engaging the scraper with the truck.

7. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a truck having a floor and a rigid end wall, a scraper comprising spaced side members connected so as to leave the ends and bottom of the scraper open and forming the side walls of the truck body, a door for the end of the scraper opposite to the end wall of the truck, and means for detachably engaging the scraper with the truck efi'ective to hold the scraper to the truck in case the car is inverted and also as against longitudinal movement of the scraper.

8. In apparatus of the character described, the combination or a truck having a floor and a rigid end wall, a scraper comprising spaced side members connected so as to leave the ends and bottom of the scraper open and forming the side walls of the truck body, a door for the end of the scraper opposite to the end wall of the truck, means for detachably engaging the scraper with the truck, and means for demounting the scraper from and return ing the same to the truck.

9. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a truck having a floor and a rigid end wall, a scraper comprising spaced side members connected so as to leave the ends and bottom of the scraper open, a door for the end of the scraper opposite to the end wall of the truck, means for detachably engaging the scraper with the truck so as to provide the combination of a truck having a floor and a fixed end wall, and a structure forming apart of the truck body and consisting of side walls which leave the ends and bottom of the structure open, and a door at the end of said structure opposite the fixed end wall on the truck.

12. In apparatus of the character described the combination of a truck having a floor and a fixed end wall, and a structure forming a part of the truck body consisting of side walls, connecting devices between the side walls which leave the ends and bottom of the structure open, a door at the end of said structure opposite the fixed end wall of the truck, and means for detachably engaging said structure with the truck.

13. In apparatus of the character described the combination of a truck having a floor and a fixed end wall, and a structure forming a part of the truck body consisting of side walls, connecting devices between the side walls which leave the ends and bottom of the structure open, a vertically sliding door at the end of said structure opposite the fixed end wall of the truck, which can swing over between the side walls when raised, and means for detachably engaging said structure with the truck.

' RICHARD T. MoKEEN,

walls, connecting devices between the side 

